


Collateral Damage

by Corcalamus



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, M/M, Switch!Loki, Switch!Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-18
Updated: 2013-10-18
Packaged: 2017-12-29 19:15:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1009048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corcalamus/pseuds/Corcalamus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“This isn't how you take over the Earth,” Tony said, deciding it was best to put aside any and all jokes, clearly Loki wasn't in the mood for them, “humans don't deal well with overt aggression, they'll just rebel constantly and do you <i>really</i> want to deal with that?”</p><p>Loki stopped stalking towards Tony, looking at him curiously, “You're giving me <i>tips</i>?”</p><p>“I'm saying there's another way, a better way, a way I've already started. You think you can keep hold of this planet yourself? Do you know how many have tried? You need someone to help you with that and I need someone too. I think you and I can work together.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Genius and a Prince.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AislingSiobhan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AislingSiobhan/gifts).



They circled each other in Tony's penthouse as Manhattan burned outside. Chitauri flew around with impunity and to make matters worse the so called God before him had smashed up his newest Iron Man suit. He had a spare of course and had just completed a few upgrades that Obediah had called 'inspired' but that didn't stop him wishing he'd had a little time to run more tests.

“Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity,” Loki asked him. 

“Uh, actually I'm planning to make you an offer,” Tony said and he saw the look of confusion on Loki's face and he grinned.

“An offer?” he scoffed, “and what would you have to offer me? I who will soon own the Earth?”

Tony laughed, he couldn't help himself, maybe not his best plan with the six foot tall crazy Asgardian in his apartment near the window but he couldn't undo it now. Loki walked towards him and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him up a few inches.

“You mock me!?” Loki's face was inches from his own.

“No – can't – breathe!” Tony gasped. He was very glad as Loki very slightly loosened his grip but only lowered him enough to let him stand on his tip toes.

“Better?” Loki asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“A little,” Tony grudgingly agreed, “though rough things like this are usually better naked and in the bedroom – hey – hey!”

Loki threw him across the room towards the window.

“Hey Jarvis buddy, little help here?” Tony asked as Loki stalked towards him.

“I'm going as fast as I can sir.”

“Speak then fool,” Loki demanded holding the scepter towards him, “You have precious little time to breathe so do use that breath _wisely_.”

“This isn't how you take over the Earth,” Tony said, deciding it was best to put aside any and all jokes, clearly Loki wasn't in the mood for them, “humans don't deal well with overt aggression, they'll just rebel constantly and do you _really_ want to deal with that?”

Loki stopped stalking towards Tony, looking at him curiously, “You're giving me _tips_?”

“I'm saying there's another way, a better way, a way I've already started. You think you can keep hold of this planet yourself? Do you know how many have tried? You need someone to help you with that and I need someone too. I think you and I can work together.”

Loki had lowered the scepter, Tony took that to mean he was listening and so he just continued.

“Only, I'm not working with your idiot aliens out there. They're... stupid.”

“They were fit for my purpose of returning to the nine realms,” Loki admitted, looking thoughtful, “but it is too late for me to turn the tide now. You have seen how many there are of them, I may be a god but I am not omnipotent.”

“Alone? Yeah, way too many, with us? Not so much.” Tony said.

“They'll never believe I'm now on your side so easily,” Loki said and Tony was sure he could see some part of the mad god contemplating how easy it would be to throw him out of the window and continue on with his plan.

“Thor will,” Tony said, “the guy reeks of desperation when it comes to you. Natasha is all for the whole 'people can change' thing and the scepter is our key to that. I whack you over the head, make it look convincing, you go down and then magically wake up 'back in your proper mind'. Then you help us deal with these idiots and you go back to Asgard before coming back here to 'repay the damage you did', easy.”

Loki's mouth was half open and then as suddenly as it had happened, his mouth closed again and twisted into an amused smile. “I think I like you mortal.”

“Well don't I feel special?” Tony asked.

Loki's eyes narrowed and Tony held his hands up, “A joke, princess, a joke. If you and I are gonna work together you're gonna have to lighten up. I mean I get the whole goth leather thing you got going on there, really, I do, but jokes are what I'm about.”

Loki rose an eyebrow, “As you try to take over the world?”

“Of course. Why bother if it's not any fun? Now come on, Jarvis, hit me!”

The remote armor sprung forth from it's case, barely missing Loki. It surrounded Tony just as it was supposed to before Tony turned and shot Loki with a blast, sending him flying back into the opposing wall making a pretty large dent in his decor.

Loki stayed down for a few moments before he rose to his knees and shook his head, running a hand through his hair. His eyes widened and he looked up at Tony, “By the nine... what have I done?” Fuck, this guy was good, if Tony hadn't just told Loki to do all this he'd believe it was true. 

This was going to be far too easy.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Loki was one bad ass mother fucker as far as Tony was concerned. He immediately turned the tide when he joined forces with the Avengers. The look on Thor's face at seeing his brother fight by his side was almost tragic considering Loki was only doing it to manipulate him and the whole situation. 

The scepter had been the key to closing the portal, Nick Fury was hailed as a hero after delaying the order to nuke Manhattan and the Avengers and Loki were all hailed as heroes, especially Iron Man who got the 'mad god 'on side. It had been just over a year ago, Stark Industries was trading at record levels with the new arc reactor technology powering weapons and they had acquired a new asset.

Loki Odinson, God of Mischief.

Loki had joined Stark Industries as a 'consultant', it was a word Nick Fury had used for Tony regarding S.H.I.E.L.D. It had given him someone who could work the field more than him and using his magic mumbo jumbo had made some interesting friends, including one in Latveria that Tony didn't really trust but it offered some covert banking opportunities.

Pepper didn't like Loki, but that was only because Loki put snakes in her bag that one time she complained about him, something about his 'unkempt appearance'. Needless to say, she hated him more but Tony found it amusing that since then, Loki always had a freshly showered look about him.

Which just added to the appeal, no, really, it did. He was six foot tall, could throw Tony around like a rag doll and wore leather on an obscenely regular basis. The way he sat in a chair had 'come fuck me' written all over it and the funny thing was he didn't seem to notice any of the long stares Tony threw his way.

Tony didn't take any random stranger to bed now, not when one wrong move with the arc reactor could kill him, but he was interested in Loki. That was until he opened his mouth and bile spewed forth. Sometimes he was glad to have him, sometimes he wished Thor had smashed his hammer through his idiot brothers skull.

“Tony?”

“Hm?”

“You haven't listened to a word I've said have you?” Obediah's voice was just a tiny bit disapproving but Tony didn't care about that.

“Not really.”

“Aldritch Killian, meeting tomorrow, don't be late. He's been dying to get in with us, needs you for something.”

“Oh,” Tony said, “wait, Aldrich Killian, he's AIM right?”

“Yes. Maya Henderson works with him, you know, the botanist?”

Tony grinned, of course he remembered Maya, who the fuck didn't remember a night like _that_. “Yeah I remember Maya. The meeting's tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“Loki's gonna be pissed he missed it,” Tony felt himself grin at those words, he really did like pissing the God of Mischief off.

“Should I reschedule?” Obie asked, pulling out his Stark Phone to rework the meeting.

“What? Hell no, that's a pro Obie, not a con,” He grinned, “there's nothing funnier than a Norse god having a fit.”

“You do realise he could crush you like a grape if he wanted to, right?” Obie asked.

“A lot of people try to kill me Obie.” He gave Obediah a look, “Terrorists, Gods, Justin Hammer... he's just fun to provoke, he won't _do_ anything.”

“You're sure about that?”

“He _likes_ me.” Tony said.

“You think so?” 

“I _know_ so.”

“Alright kid,” Obie held his hands up in defeat, Tony knew that didn't really mean much except 'I want an easy life and am done arguing with you' but he didn't care. Tony knew he was right.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Regard the human brain.”

Tony rolled his eyes a little but thanks to the darkened room no one saw him do it as Aldrich put on his little show that was clearly supposed to be super impressive. He rolled three little spheres onto the table which projected a 3D image of the universe, _not_ the human brain.

“Oh, that's the universe, hold on, my bad.” Tony watched as he used his remote to change the image to something that was now resembling a human brain.

“Mimetic though, hm?” Killian asked, looking around the room, clearly very impressed with himself.

“Very,” Whitney breathed, Tony rolled his eyes. Anyone with an IQ over 130 got her temperature rising. 

“And moving on?” Tony asked sick of Whitney fluttering her eyelashes at Killian, “come on Killian, I'm a busy man.”

“Oh, of course Mr Stark,” Killian said and he navigated the hologram to another section of the brain, “Now, Extremis harnesses our bio-electrical potential And it goes...here. This is essentially an empty slot, and what this tells us is that our mind, our entire DNA in fact, is destined to be upgraded. The problem is there's just a few small bugs to iron out of the system.”

“How 'small' exactly are these bugs?” Tony asked, the tone of voice Killian used told him that these bugs were anything but 'tiny'.

“Well...” Killian used his remote and the hologram changed to television reports of terrorist attacks by 'The Mandarin'. Tony's eyes widened, “The suicide bombers, the glitch that Maya told me about?” He shook his head, “Damn.”

“Yeah... Maya said you might know how to fix it.”

“I vaguely recall doing something with a formula in the morning. I'd need to look it all over again, see your facility. And Maya.” Tony grinned and beside him he felt a glare coming from Whitney. He put that away for future reference, he thought Whitney had gotten over him by getting under Doom. Now there was a frightening thought.

The meeting wrapped up not long after that and Tony felt that for once a meeting that Obie organised about 'their game plan' wasn't a complete waste of time. He had felt somewhat like a cliché holding meetings about taking over the world. 

He told Killian that he wasn't comfortable with the glitch and it needed to be fixed before he would give him _any_ funding. There was just a teensy bit too much exploding and collateral damage for Tony's liking. He knew that there was going to be _some_ collateral damage, that was to be expected but this was just a little too much.

Though, 'the Mandarin' could be useful.

They scheduled another meeting for next week so that Obie and Loki could both go with Tony. Tony was hoping Loki could use his 'magic mumbo jumbo' to infiltrate Killian's operation and keep an eye on things from the inside. Loki was really rather good at that.

He hadn't heard from Loki in a couple of days, no doubt he was off somewhere 'making friends' before returning. He usually sneaked his way into government functions to make 'special' friends, currently about half of congress was under his control in one way or another which was going to make things go very smoothly in future.

Just as he was thinking of Loki, his phone beeped with a message.

“ _Agent Romanov is ours_ ”

Tony grinned, that bastard was fucking good.

He text back, “ _Well done princess, I'll treat you to some sushi tonight and a bottle of wine._ ” He grinned and a moment later, ' _You are an asshole. But yes to the sushi and wine. No cucumber maki, it's revolting._ '

~*~*~*~*~

“So tell me, how _did_ you get Widow?”

A sly smile crossed Loki's face, “Well since Barton is already mine I just had him lure her out. It was simple really, covert night time operation while no one was around. I swooped.”

Tony grinned as he ate some sushi, “That's good,” he said, “she'll be good for hacking and getting S.H.I.E.L.D data. Barton doesn't really have the clearance, he's a foot soldier, not a spy.”

Loki nodded, “Indeed. So what have you been doing while I have been acquiring us staff?”

“Oh, had a meeting with AIM the other day.”

Loki's hand froze midway to his mouth, “Aldrich Killian?” he asked, “I'm not sure he is very good to work for Stark.”

Tony frowned, “Why not?”

“Because he's insane.” Loki said simply.

Tony just rose an eyebrow at that, neither he nor Loki could really claim to be the poster boys for 'sanity'. Loki waved his hand away, “We are not 'insane' a little crazy but not _insane_.”

“So he's like Doom then?” Tony asked.

“Doom is eccentric, not insane,” Loki countered, “you just don't like him because he speaks in third person.” 

“Well really who can take that seriously?”

“Tony, I mean it about Killian.”

“And I mean it about us, Loki, you smashed the fucking bifrost and fell through seven levels of hell. I spent three months being tortured in Afghanistan before getting the fuck out and killing a shit ton of terrorists and now we're taking over the world because the world is full of people who are stupid.”

“Not all people are stupid.” Loki said, eying Tony. Tony wasn't sure what the look was, with Loki an inviting look could be anything from 'I want to have sex' to 'I wish to pluck out your eyes'. It was always hard to tell with him.

“No... you're right about that, individuals are smart but _people_ as an entirety are _fuckwits_.” He popped a piece of maki in his mouth and Loki rolled his eyes.

“What a stellar advertisement for the human race,” he drawled.

“Hey, humans like guidance. You were half right with your little speech in Stutgart. Humans like to be shown what to do but you need to make it look like it was their idea in the first place. Make it look like they elected the guy they want in office. Your whole 'lets be king of the world by force' was never gonna work.”

“I realise that now,” Loki said, “humans are rather fond of their perceived freedom.”

“Exactly,” Tony agreed, “what _we_ do is we make the world love us. We make the world realise it can't fucking function without us and we slowly and surely take over all of the governments. By the time that's done, it'll be too late.” Tony smiled, “Stick with me Loki and by the time I'm done you'll have your very own planet.”

“You know, you often set yourself apart from those that dwell here. You speak of the humans on Earth as if you don't belong to them.” Loki mused.

Tony thought about it for a few moments and then he nodded, “I _am_ set apart from them, I'm _way_ smarter.” he grinned, “You do the same too you know. 'The Asgardians do not like me'. Or, 'The Asgardians think magic is for weak fools.'”

Loki rose an eyebrow, “Well, I'm not _exactly_ Asgardian, am I?”

“Well not by birth no but you always say you're 'Loki of Asgard' not 'Loki Odinson' or 'Loki Laufey-'”

A chopstick was thrown at him, frankly Tony was just relieved that it was just a chopstick, it could so easily have been a knife.

“You will watch what you say to me.” Loki said and Tony knew he was skating on thin ice here. The first argument they had once they decided to do their little 'world domination gig' together had ended in his Malibu house getting some major renovation work done.

“You know I didn't mean it Princess.” Tony said and that earned him a glare though he knew this glare to be 'you are insufferable' rather than, 'I am going to gouge your eyes out with my chopsticks'. There were subtle cues on just what kind of glare it was, for one thing there was no pulsing vein in the god's right temple.

Tony's attention returned to his sushi but was rapidly wrenched back to the present and a very ticked off Loki by his side. The Asgardian had wound his fingers into Tony's hair at the back of his head and yanked his head back, a slight snarl on his face.

“You will cease in using that ridiculous nickname,” Loki demanded.

“Oh will I?” Tony asked as the tension on his hair increased a fraction.

“You will.”

Loki's eyes were boring right into Tony and internally Tony smiled. Loki wasn't really angry, not truly. If Loki was truly angry Tony would be breathing a whole lot less right now, instead, Loki just wanted to redirect his irritation in another way.

“No, I'm really not,” Tony said, his hands moving to Loki's chest. Loki was thankfully just in his green tunic and black leather trousers, Tony hated getting that damned armor off. As his hand rest upon Loki's chest, he steeled himself. 

He'd thought on more than one occasion that Loki was rather like a feline. Their moods can change on a dime, one minute all purring and snuggles the next they're trying to attach themselves to your face. With Loki this was all the more dangerous as he wasn't so much your average house cat as he was a tiger.

Playing with Loki could easily get you killed.

Tony was used to it. Most of the things he liked best could kill him.

Loki shifted on the couch, fingers not holding his hair so tight but pulling his head back a little more exposing more of his throat, “you will use my name,” he said leaning in and kissing up Tony's neck, “only those that use my name get certain _privileges_.” His teeth nipped the skin just below Tony's left ear.

Tony shivered and grinned. He knew that to be true alright, the second time they'd fucked he used a nickname in bed and got thrown across the room. He learned his lesson, nicknames weren't for the bedroom.

Dirty talk however was _absolutely_ permitted, encouraged even.

“Loki,” Tony said, his voice low and husky, he saw the light in Loki's eyes as he used his name. Loki's fingers released.

“Better,” The God said.

“Bed?” Tony asked.

“If you really need to ask Tony then you're more dense than I thought.”

This time it was Tony who threw the chopstick.

~*~*~*~*~

He recalled with startling clarity the first time they had sex.

It had been in Malibu after their epic 'house needs renovated again' fight. They'd argued about something trivial because with Loki something trivial could become pivotal with the application of his talent for twisting words.

It was at the end of the fight, Loki had hit Tony's helm off and Tony had Loki pressed up against the wall. It was at that moment Loki decided to kiss him hard. The kiss had been equal parts frustration and equal parts challenge and anger and Tony kissed him back with just as much frustration, he rose to the challenge and he hoped their anger could burn together.

And burn it did.

What had utterly shocked Tony was how readily Loki pulled his legs apart and let Tony fuck him. It was only now as Loki was on his knees once more before him that Tony thought he understood. 

The mirror in front of them let Tony see the very moment he pushed into Loki. The expression on the face of the man who would be king was one of bliss. He considered as he took Loki how controlled he was most of the time, how he had this front of being cool calm and collected and then this second skin of anger and fury.

That's all it was though, both of them were just skins. Just masks to show the world. This, this expression Tony could see in the mirror as their passion burned away all masks, this was Loki. 

They both found their release, Loki's very bones seemed to go limp as they lay together in bed for a while. Tony always enjoyed these moments, the moments of cool after their respective fires had reached their crescendo and briefly knocked themselves out. He observed Loki in the low light, dark hair splayed across a white pillow, chest rising and falling with deep hard breaths. He looked absolutely like he'd had the best orgasm in the world.

Tony tentatively rest his hand on Loki's chest. Some nights he wanted no more to do with him once they'd both come but other nights he drew him closer. Tony was glad when Loki shifted, pulling the inventor towards him. Loki's lithe frame was frighteningly strong and Tony found he kind of loved how it made him feel when he fucked Loki. Loki could turn around at any moment and snap him in two and as Obie had told him, one of these days, the Mad God just might. But Loki let Tony take him and Loki let him bite and scratch him. Loki encouraged him to leave marks, pull his hair and smack his ass and make him _beg_ for more.

He felt the need to ask once about Loki's preference to being the bottom and the submissive one in the bedroom and he'd just smiled and said, “Because then I have all the control.”

Tony supposed it was true, at any point if Loki said stop, it would stop.

Long fingers began to run through Tony's hair, bringing him out of his thoughts. “Hm... that feels good,” Tony said quietly.

“I'm glad.” Loki said with a rare fondness in his voice.

“You're going to miss me when I'm gone hm?”

There was a pause and Loki asked, “Where are you going?”

Tony looked at him to see the genuine confusion on Loki's face. Tony frowned, “Uh – did you forget I really _am_ human no matter how much more brilliant I am than most of my species?”

Loki's fingers stilled, “No.” 

“Then you know I'm mortal. I'll be dead and gone long before you.”

Fingers tightened a little in Tony's hair and Loki shifted their positions so Tony was laying flat on his back and Loki was leaning over him. He didn't say anything, he just looked over Tony's face and body before leaning down to kiss him deeply.

Well _this_ was new.

Tony kissed him back for a few minutes before Loki settled down beside him again, pulling him tight to him as they settled to sleep. Part of Tony wanted to ask just what the hell that had been about but he elected to remain quiet and just let Loki go to sleep.


	2. Deceit and Distrust

“I do not trust him.”

Loki's voice was tense and exceedingly disapproving. Tony just rolled his eyes, “You were just upset because I was flirting with Maya,” his voice was light and amused, he was too fond of making Loki jealous. Loki always professed never to feel jealousy with regards to Tony's sex life but Tony knew that wasn't the case.

“No,” Loki said with a scowl, “that was just something else I disliked. I am the God of Lies and I know deceit when I see it.”

“Well you got one of their minions with your mumbo jumbo didn't you?”

“I did,” Loki confirmed. “But I do not think I will find much out unless I can completely get into their system. I was thinking of asking Doom-”

Tony scoffed, Loki glared.

“What is it that you have against Doom?”

“Well, first of all his name is ' _Victor Von Doom_ , his _actual name_ ,” Tony said, knowing his voice was just a little incredulous, “I mean, what the hell is that all about? When I started the whole Iron Man thing I didn't go off and officially change my name to Iron Man.”

Loki rolled his eyes, “Neither did he, he was _born_ 'Victor Von Doom'.”

“I don't believe that for a minute. I don't care what he told you on that one 'Von Doom' isn't a real name.”

Loki just cursed at him and turned, leaving the penthouse. Tony wasn't really sure why he insisted on bashing Doom but he just had this whole creeped out thing with the evil mad scientist and he knew Doom was only appearing to be helpful so that he could keep his stupid country when he and Loki finally succeeded in taking over the world.

He sat down on the couch and flipped on the T.V. He flipped through the channels, not really paying attention to anything in particular, just looking for the background noise. 

He and Loki were playing the long game with the whole world domination thing and it had occurred to him over the past few months that Loki might have the time to do the long game but he might not have quite the time that he needed to get everything done that he wanted to. He'd never worried about his mortality before, not in a real way other than the usual idle thoughts of humans obsessed with their own existence but since the incident in Afghanistan he'd grown to realise just how little time a mortal lifespan was, especially since meeting Loki. Loki whom spoke of vikings and hunts across frozen tundras as if they happened yesterday.

He didn't want to live forever but he didn't want to die in 40 years either. And with the arc reactor in his chest and the metal shards trailing towards his heart, he wasn't sure he had enough time to do what he needed.

He pulled out his Stark Phone and he pressed a number.

“Stark, didn't think I'd be hearing from you so soon.”

“Neither did I Killian,” Tony admitted, “But I have a question. You know this Extremis thing, would it expand a lifespan?”

Killian made a thoughtful noise, “Maya has theorised that it would expand your lifepan. In humans probably by half.”

“So you're talking instead of living to 80 what, 120?” Tony asked, just making sure Killian was understanding what he meant.

“Yes,” He agreed. “Exactly, why?”

Tony smiled, “I was just thinking that taking over the world can be a lengthy business. I think I'd be interested in using this Extremis when it's stable.”

“Good to know,” Killian said, sounding very eager, “I'll be sure to let Maya know.”

Tony grinned and finished up the call to Killian feeling rather great. 

He'd need to be sure to tell Loki he'd have him for a bit longer, just as soon as the god calmed down enough to come back.

He always came back.

~*~*~*~*~

As the handcuffs clicked around his wrists, Tony contemplated the feel of the cold metal on his bare skin and the feel of the god's hands on his stomach, ghosting over each and every muscle, making them twitch in anticipation.

When Loki had returned to the tower that night he hadn't said anything to Tony, just grabbed him and dragged him off to bed. The god stripped him and threw him to the bed before putting him in this position. Loki wasn't often so forceful, usually only when he was pissed off about something or when Thor had upset him about something but Tony liked to switch it up every so often and this was certainly very different to their liaison the day before.

Loki's eyes rose to meet his as he snaked up Tony's body, still fully clothed against Tony's naked form. Tony felt something slip around his cock and Loki grinned and kissed him deeply as his hand began to slide up the inside of Tony's thigh towards his balls but stopped short, fingernails digging deep into sensitive flesh causing Tony to groan.

Loki looked so very pleased with himself with the groan. He leaned down, kissing Tony's bare stomach before he stood and began to undress. Tony took the opportunity to look down at himself and saw Loki had put a cock ring on him. It had runes inscribed into the surface, so it wasn't just _any_ cock ring, it was a _magical_ cock ring.

“Loki...”

“You'll enjoy it, I promise,” was all the god would say. Crawling back onto the bed he kissed up the inside of Tony's thigh again before taking him into his mouth. He just loved the feel of Loki's mouth around him. To have an honest to goodness _god_ with his mouth around him. And even if you didn't think of Loki as a 'God' in the almighty sense, he was still powerful, he was a Prince after all.

Loki pulled back, Tony whined a bit, partly for effect. “Loki...”

“Hm..?” he asked innocently.

“C'mon, stop being a tease.”

Loki grinned, “A 'tease'? Tony, I have barely begun. Desperation is what I am looking for and you're not desperate, not yet, but you will be when I'm finished with you.”

Tony wasn't sure if he should be excited or terrified at the tone the god was using. As always, half mad, half inspired. But then, wasn't that an apt description for himself as well? He grinned in return, “I'm never 'desperate',” he said, deciding to rise to Loki's challenge.

“Well, I suppose we shall soon see, won't we?” Loki asked and from there things began to get a little hazy.

Loki's lips across his collarbone, one hand stroking him, the other in Tony's hair, keeping his head pulled back as the mad god kissed up his throat, nipping the skin as he went. Loki wasn't really often dominant but when he was, fuck, Tony thought the god could be renamed the God of Sex over the God of Mischief. Though, as Loki had once pointed out 'Mischief' falls under 'sex' and if it doesn't then 'Clearly you people have been doing it wrong all these years.'

Tony heard the lube open, he felt Loki's slick fingers run over his aching cock, his thumb running over the head as he whispered a string of filth in Tony's ear.

_“Do you know how gorgeous you are strung out for me like this Tony? Do you know how much you make me want to fuck you? Do you know I could spend a year with you just tied up like this while I take pleasure from your needy hole and greedy mouth? Tony, the things you make me want... the things I do for you.”_

Tony felt something almost break in his brain, his hands struggled against the bonds, fuck he wanted Loki. He wanted him on his back as he pounded into him, he wanted Loki to have him on his knees and fuck him in turn.

_”Loki,”_ was all the inventor was able to say.

“Now _that_ is what I'm looking for,” Loki purred.

Without any warning, Loki turned and he sat down on Tony's cock. At some point, Loki must have prepared himself because he slipped into the god's gorgeous hole so easily. He watched Loki's back as he rose and fell, watching Loki ride him, feeling himself right on the edge of coming but the cock ring denying him his release.

He listened to Loki's breathing hitch, his head was thrown back and he cried out, stroking himself to completion. He pulsed around Tony and Tony whimpered.

Loki turned around again, letting Tony's still achingly hard cock slip out of him. He rose his fingers to Tony's lips, fingers that were covered in his own release. “Lick,” he instructed and Tony did.

Loki tasted good, he always did, his tongue laved along all three of Loki's fingers that he'd been offered, Loki groaned softly as he did, making a show of it, hoping his compliance would get Loki to let him come.

“Good boy,” Loki said as he began to stand, he flicked his wrist, a blindfold appearing in his hand. “Do you trust me?” he asked.

Tony looked at the blindfold and he nodded, “I trust you.”

The blindfold was slipped over Tony's eyes. Loki returned to his legs, his hands running under them, helping Tony keep his legs up to expose his arse. Loki ran each hand over his arse before he pressed a slick finger to Tony's entrance.

Tony arched into the touch, “Fuck, Loki...”

“Not quite yet,” Loki said as he added a second finger, “patience...” 

Something else pressed against him, something slick and cool. As it entered him, it's flared shape told Tony exactly what it was. It was a butt plug.

“Fuck – _Loki_ ” it started to vibrate and Tony lost all sense of control over his mouth.

Loki rode him again, coming twice more, using Tony for his pleasure and all Tony could do was writhe, moan and when he felt Loki's fourth release splash across his chest, he begged.

“ _Loki, please, please let me come, please...”_

“Why should I?” Loki asked, leaning forward, hands on Tony's chest, pinching at his nipples, tracing around the arc reactor, “Why should I give you release? Why should I not just turn you over, take out that plug and fuck you without giving you release?”

“Because – I - _need_ it, I need you to – please Loki – please...” Somewhere in Tony's mind he registered that no one had ever made him beg like this, no one had pulled down so many barriers that he would allow himself to be in this position but Loki had, somehow, managed to get past them all. Maybe because he had just as many barriers as he did? Or maybe just because Loki didn't care about the barriers, didn't care about boundaries, all he cared about was getting and taking what he wanted.

“You beg so nicely...” His hands moved up to the cuffs, releasing them before he turned Tony onto his front, “On your knees,” he instructed.

Tony whined softly, moving his legs underneath him, pushing up and he groaned as Loki pulled the vibrating plug out of his ass. He gripped Tony's hips, pulling him towards him.

“To who do you belong?” Loki asked him, pressing his cock to Tony's entrance.

“You,” Tony said, pushing back and groaned as Loki pushed forward a little, keeping Tony's hips steady.

“And who is the only one ever allowed to fuck you?”

“You... you do it best any- _way_ oh god Loki,” Tony whined, Loki filled him and began pounding into him without mercy. His prostate was swollen beyond anything he'd felt before, his cock ached, his head was hazy and he remembered agreeing to Loki months before that only he was allowed to fuck him, no one else.

He'd gained the same promise from Loki but that didn't mean they couldn't go have sex with others. Not that Tony had, world domination plans and Loki kept him busy enough and the arc reactor in his chest made him less eager to have just anyone in his bed.

“ _Komio,_ ” He heard Loki say above him and for a breif moment he wondered what it meant but then he felt the cock ring loosen and an explosion of release washed over him.

It was easily the hardest, longest orgasm he'd ever had and as he lay with Loki on his side being the little spoon, he felt Loki run a wash cloth over his chest. He completely missed Loki moving them, missed him taking the blindfold off even. But as he lay there, content and warm in Loki's arms, he couldn't truly remember the last time he'd felt so sated.

“Back with me I see?” Loki asked, voice unusually soft.

“I passed out?”

“You did, I took it as a compliment,” Loki's voice was amused, but pleased. “Enjoy yourself?”

“I did, you should top more often,” was Tony's opinion.

Loki chuckled, “I need to be in the right mood. I enjoyed it though, you beg very nicely.”

“You fuck very nicely.”

Loki shook his head as he tossed the cloth aside.

“Where'd you go anyway earlier on?”

“Latveria.”

“Oh... I should have known you wouldn't listen to me about getting Doom involved.”

“Doom is an excellent hacker. He's going to hack Killian's systems, see what he can find. I just do not trust him.”

“You don't trust anyone, you don't trust Obediah even.”

“No, I don't and I think you're a fool to keep him so close. My instincts are usually very accurate Tony, I've had over a thousand years to hone them.”

“You don't trust Pepper.”

“I've never said that,” Loki said, a little defensive, “I think that woman has your best interests at heart, I just think she's a bit naive and she needs her eyes opened.”

“Hm, okay, fine.” Tony said, “If you've got Doom searching Killian's systems why not have him check out Obie if it'll make you feel better?” He looked at Loki who was giving him an innocent look, “Unless – you already have him doing that, don't you?”

“Obediah's private console is terrifyingly well protected.” Loki said, “But Doom will get into it.”

“Hmph... you let me know what he doesn't find.”

“I will,” Loki said and kissed the back of his neck, nipping a little with his teeth, “now go to sleep, you're meeting with Lady Viper tomorrow morning.”

“I forgot about that... alright Princess, goodnight.” 

As they settled together, Loki's arm moved to circle Tony's waist and they both fell deeply asleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Lady Viper turned out to be a very smart woman with her finger in many pies. She knew an awful lot about his operation but not enough to truly do any damage should she decide she didn't like Tony anymore. He offered her a safe place in New York to conduct business and offered to aid her in her desire to take over HYDRA.

She was quite high in the pecking order but like many companies or other organizations she was never considered for the top position due to the simple fact of being a woman. It had been Tony's experience that women were just as capable of doing great or fucking up as men and Viper had the added bonus that should she be in charge of HYDRA he'd have a whole terrorist orginisation to help take over the world. 

Their meeting had discussed what kind of things Tony was looking for and agreeing that she could help them Loki wrote a magically binding contract for them both to sign. Not that Viper knew it was magically binding, not that it would seal Tony in to keeping his word, but she would be held absolutely accountable if she tried to work against them. If she tried, it would alert them and Loki told Tony that he'd just kidnap Viper and make a copy of her that would be truly loyal. He said it was ancient difficult magic but he'd be able to do it.

Tony really truly loved having Loki on his side.

~*~*~*~*~*~

It was a few days after his meeting with Viper that Killian sent over the plans for the Extremis formula. Tony looked it over, Maya had made a few minor adjustments but it looked stable enough. He contacted Viper to have her send over one of her men.

“Make sure it's not someone you'd be broken up over if they were to say, you know, accidentally explode?”

“Noted...” Viper said, “There are a few I trust less than the others, can this formula be used to control them?”

“Maybe, you'd need to ask Killian about it.”

The experiment was a success, the test subject survived and didn't burn too hot. Killian used the formula on himself to demonstrate to Tony that it was safe and it evened out his own temperature too.

Tony knew it took a few days to recover from the initial onset of Extremis. After all, it was doing an awful lot to your body so he told Killian that he'd be in touch for when he was able to go through with the treatment.

When Tony returned to the tower, he found Loki waiting for him. The god was just a little agitated and when he asked him why he told him.

“Jarvis told me about the new development with this 'Extremis'. That Viper is able to command her lackey and he does not question her orders, just does as he is told.”

“That's right,” Tony said, pouring himself a scotch.

“And you're still willing to let this mad man experiment upon you?”

“He's not – look, there's a few different formulas for Extremis, the one I'm getting is designed to lengthen my life and make me a bit hardier, you know?”

“I still don't trust-”

“Had Doom found anything yet?”

“No...” Loki admitted.

“You think maybe you're just wrong about him?”

“No.” Loki said, more forcefully, “I know lies, I tell you, he's not-”

“Yeah, yeah.” Tony said, waving his hand dismissively, “Look Princess I have things to do, you-”

Tony didn't feel the moment Loki grabbed him, all he felt was the moment he was slammed into the wall, Loki's hands keeping him pinned there, the wind knocked out of his lungs.

“I know liars and mad men when I see them. I am one myself and I am better at it than any of them. I assure you they are up to something, I will find out what it is and you will see that I am the one who's judgment you should trust.”

Tony would usually shout back, but this was a different Loki to usual when he was angry usually Tony was the subject and target of his anger. But this time, this time it seemed to be anyone else who wanted to hurt him.

Tony wasn't going to back down though just because the god was paranoid. “Loki, I'm taking Extremis, alright. Just... let me go.”

“You're a damn fool, you-” he was cut off mid sentence as Loki's phone beeped and Loki huffed, letting him go to look at his phone. He frowned, “I need to go.” and with no explanation of where he was going or why, Loki teleported.

Tony cursed.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Loki had been gone for days, texting in now and then to let Tony know he was alive. The texts had been frivolous, clearly designed to just let Tony know that he was alive and well and doing things without him. Tony tried to ignore them mostly but was glad that he was checking in now and then.

He was currently eating pizza with Obie and Pepper, apparently the most recent board meeting had gone exceedingly well and the pizza was just because they were in New York anyway and they felt like celebrating only, Pepper seemed distracted about something, checking her phone every so often.

“Pep, something wrong?” Tony asked.

“Hm? Oh, no, sorry I was just waiting on an email and it was supposed to be here by now.”

“From who?” Obediah asked.

“Phil,” she said, “he uh - invited me on a date. I told him yes and he said he'd email me.”

“I thought he was dating a cellist?” Tony asked, he remembered Coulson mentioning it to him, in fact, he'd offered to fly Coulson down to Florida on his private jet where she'd moved to so he could visit her. 

“Oh, yes he was.... but not anymore.” Her phone beeped again and she stood. “I told him yes, so I need to go.”

“Right now?” Obie asked.

“Yes, right now,” Pepper said, her voice just a touch tight. If Tony didn't know any better he'd say Pepper was lying. But Pepper never lied to him, Pepper was 100% dependable, 100% honest and always on side.

He watched her go, grabbing her purse as she left the penthouse and Obie frowned, “Twitchy tonight.”

“Yeah, it's... really not like her.”

Obie shrugged, “Oh well, let her go on her date, we'll discuss the board meeting in more detail and you can finish off your pizza and go to bed, you've got an early flight out to Malibu in the morning.”

Tony huffed, he hated when Obie tried to force him to be responsible. Taking over the world was so tedious at times, all the board meetings, all the politics... it didn't matter really, once he was in a position of power he'd be able to do things how he wanted.

It was just getting there that was going to be tedious.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Loki liked to just pop in and out sometimes.

When he'd got back to his bedroom after a few beers with Obie, he felt Loki's hands rest on his hips and pull him back. Loki's lips had been on his neck, cold breath ghosting across Tony's skin.

“I thought that you and he would be talking forever. I feared I was going to have to come down there and drag you up here.”

Tony grinned, “Well hello princess... where have you been?”

“On business,” Loki said kissing his neck, the room was dark, his lips were cold. It occurred to Tony that Loki must be in his blue form. He loved that blue skin on the god but Loki had to be in the right mood to be convinced to show it at all, and even then it was usually in low light or no light.

“I wish you'd let me put the light on properly,” Tony murmured as Loki's cool hands trailed across his chest.

“Why? So you can gawk at me?” Loki asked, his voice now as frosty as his hands. His mood really could change on a dime. 

“No,” Tony said, turning to him with a grin, his hand moving to stroke Loki's cheek, fingers running over the ridges from his Jotun skin. “So I can properly worship you. You're all about mortals on their knees...”

That got a chuckle from Loki, Tony knew he wouldn't be thrown across the room for that and as their lips met it was a little more possessive than usual. Loki pulled back, “Not tonight I'm afraid. I am here for a flying visit and I think that would take more time than a 'quick fuck'.”

Tony was just a little dissapointed but only for a moment before he realised 'quick fuck' was usually him with Loki bent over a desk or other object for a 'quick fix' which was always incredibly satisfying, especially with Loki pushing back into him and shouting 'harder'.

This time it had been the bed but Loki on his knees on the floor leaning over it, his ass in the air as Tony fucked him into the mattress. It wasn't a long drawn out affair and as they both settled on the mattress after, Loki turned to Tony and kissed him, nipping his bottom lip.

“I promise my next visit will be longer,” he murmured softly against Tony's lips.

“What have you been up to?” Tony asked, stroking his back.

“Nothing you need concern yourself with. Just know what I do, I do for our plans.”

Tony frowned a bit, he hated when Loki was so evasive, which was like _always_. “Alright,” Tony said “but at least stay till morning.”

“I'm Afraid I can't.” Loki got up, stretching out his limbs as he got his clothes back on. “I have an appointment in a few hours and I don't wish to be late.”

Tony huffed, he supposed he needed to sleep if he was going to make that plane in the morning. “Okay... well... I'll see you soon?”

Loki nodded “Soon,” he agreed and he teleported off to whatever appointment it was he had to keep.

Tony really wished he could do that. He wondered if Killian would be able to add _that_ to Extremis? He highly doubted it, but he thought it'd be fun to give Killian and Maya the migraine and ask.


	3. Collateral Damage

When Loki had returned they'd had yet another argument about Extremis. Loki told Tony he didn't trust Killian but Tony had trouble trusting Loki's faith in Doom and really, he had good instincts about people. He only kept the best people around him. Obie, Pepper, Happy and now Loki. When he'd pointed that out to the god Loki gave him a death glare and said 'I hardly think so, _Stark_ ' and had fucked off again.

Reverting to 'Stark' had hurt Tony which was why, two days later, he found himself at Killian's compound getting ready to undergo Extremis. He was still mad at Loki for not explaining himself beyond 'I don't trust him' and he was getting more and more pissed off every time Loki just disappeared without telling him exactly where he was going.

“So, I can expect to be a super powered bad ass when this is all done then?” Tony asked as Killian and Maya set up the equipment beside him.

“Oh _sure_ ,” Killian agreed beside him. “I'll be unstoppable...”

Tony froze and saw a look of triumph on Killian's face as metal straps clamped down over his arms and legs. He was there alone, he'd told no one where he'd gone, just gone off in a fit of irritation to get back at Loki and now, well who knew what the fuck was going to happen to him.

“Aldrich...”

“Oh ho! Aldrich now is it Tony? Now that you know I have your fate in my hands it's _Aldrich_ like we're old friends?” Aldrich shook his head as he prepared a needle.

“We are _old_ friends!” Tony insisted, okay it wasn't strictly True. Aldrich had been a complete cramp on his style and nerd that he didn't have time for quite frankly, but things were different now, they had a game plan, working towards a common goal. At least, he thought they had.

“No Tony. You've never been my friend. You were that guy that I looked up to, that guy I thought could help me better myself. Instead of trying to move the world forward you were busy chasing the next pretty thing that walked across your line of sight. Another pretty bauble to add to your collection, another notch in your belt,” Killian sneered, “the thought of _you_ being in charge of the world makes my skin crawl. You're nothing Tony without the people you surround yourself with but I admit you and that walking abomination you call a fuck buddy have made waves and have the world eating out of your hands... I have plans for you but I doubt you'll want to go along with them.” He held the needle up, letting Tony see it.

“You see... Maya's been working on tweaking that formula you gave her. It's perfect... I'll say 'Jump' and you'll ask 'how high sir?'” Killian grinned, “And when I say 'go blow up the white house' you'll ask, 'into how many pieces?'”

The needle was jabbed rather painfully into his neck and the last thing he saw before falling into agony was Killian's smiling face.

~*~*~*~*~

It felt like days had passed when he next came to. He heard people talking but the words were unclear. He heard them talking about him, about how he would do whatever they wanted them to. He fell back under and when he next woke it was Maya's voice at his ear.

“Do what he tells you Tony...”

The voice didn't sound _quite_ right. The tone was off just a little but he nodded all the same before opening his eyes.

“He's awake,” Maya said and Tony's eyes moved to her now, yeah, there was definitely something off in the way she was looking at him. Green eyes full of concern and intent. The clamps around his arms and legs let him go and Killain spoke in a rather demanding voice.

“Get up Tony.”

Tony slowly got up and he stood on his own two feet, he felt shaky for a moment but there was definitely something different and unlike what Killian seemed to expect there was no _compulsion_ to do as he said, he was just doing what Maya suggested because obviously she was up to something.

Killian's face broke out into a grin, “Walk over to Maya.”

Tony's eyes met Maya and she gave the slightest of nods so Tony did as Killian asked. As Tony stood now with Maya he glanced at the computer screen, there was some sort of data transfer in progress, it was about 90% done. On the left was a symbol for AIM and on the right he realised with a jolt was the Latverian flag. She glanced at the screen and then their eyes met and Tony realised she was just stalling until the transfer was done.

“I like this, I really like this...” Killian said, “Okay Tony, this is how it's going to work. You'll go back to Stark Tower, you'll act like nothing is amiss, you'll continue working on your projects until I call you, understand?”

Tony tensed and nodded, “Yes.”

“Good...” Killian walked towards him and Maya, Tony's eyes glanced at the screen beside him. The status bar was showing 93%, Tony had to stall somehow.

He rose his hands to his head and groaned, Killian stood still as Tony picked his head up, “You – you won't get away with this,” he said through gritted teeth, doing his best to make a show of struggling against 'Extremis'. 

“Oh look, he's trying to fight against it. Maybe we should keep him here another day. Maya, contact our spy at Stark Industries. Let him know we need to keep Tony another day or so.”

“Of course Aldrich.” She turned back to her console, making a show of typing something. Tony straightened back up and his eyes once more glanced at the screen. The status bar was inching closer to complete, it was now at 98%, a few more minutes was all he needed.

An alarm began to sound off and Maya swore, Killian looked up at the ceiling and a voice came over the com system.

“Sir, there is a security breach in our firewalls, someone is transferring the whole database to an unknown place. It's coming from a console down in your area.”

Killian's eyes moved directly to Maya since it was the only console in the room in use. Maya sighed, “Well this is awkward,” she drawled in a tone that wasn't exactly fitting with the Maya that Tony knew.

Killian rushed at them, 'Maya' pulled a gun and shot the three guards that came in the back door and Tony threw himself across the desk at Killian. 

“Just start the transfer she said, it'll be easy she said. Last time I listen to a mortal.” 'Maya' complained, “That's it Tony you beat the shit out of him... while I finish the computer stuff.”

The tone was suddenly very familiar, he wondered how he'd missed it before. “ _Loki_!?” Tony was momentarily distracted as 'Maya' turned into his lover and began furiously typing. More guards arrived, Loki shot them, he wondered vaguely when Loki had gotten so good with a gun. Usually he preferred his throwing knives. Killian bashed Tony's head into the ground but it didn't hurt nearly as much as it should have.

A knife came flying his way, landing beside him. He grabbed it and stabbed it into Killian's chest with so much force that his hand and the knife went clean through Killian and Killian slumped against him, dead.

“Eew!” Tony said, shoving Killian off him and looking at the gore now covering him.

“I told you not to trust him,” Loki said from his place by the computer, “And you, Maya, you said that this would be easy.”

“Well I didn't anticipate them _finding_ you. It was doom's fault, he got antsy so he sped up the connection speed which alerted the security.” Maya said. Tony walked up to stand beside Loki and looked at the screen where Maya was sitting with Doom.

“It is true, it is Doom's fault. I admit I should have listened to this delightful young woman. She is quite brilliant.” Doom said and Tony rolled his eyes.

“Flatterer – oh God, Tony. You need a shower,” Maya said wrinkling her nose, “Is that Killian's blood and stuff?”

“Yes,” Tony said tensely.

“There's a shower in the next room,” Maya said, “And some clothes that might fit you.”

“Are they Killians?”

“Yeah...”

“I'd rather be naked,” Tony said in a huff and Loki eyed him appreciatively when he said it.

“I would not mind the view but I have work to do lover, go have a shower, I'll rinse off the gore from your clothes. Maya is finishing up the download and then you and I are going to place some bombs and be gone from this place.”

“Bombs? Really? Isn't that a little overkill?” Tony asked.

“Not really, we still have Trevor as the face of the Mandarin. We use him to say there was a terrorist attack here and all of the staff are collateral damage. Maya was on vacation in Europe with yourself. All above board really.”

“Huh... you know you are good at this plotting stuff.” As he spoke, he felt something wet slip down his shirt and he squealed, “Eee now I need to really go shower, this is revolting.”

“It is,” Loki agreed, his eyes back on the screen ensuring he'd gotten all the information he wanted, “I think it was a piece of lung that slipped into your shirt-”

“ _Loki!_ ”

Loki's laughter followed him into the shower room.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The explosion was huge, it took out the whole complex as well as the 78 staff that worked there. Maya had argued with them about killing everyone but Loki told her they couldn't risk anyone letting the cat out of the bag. She'd been upset but understood that in a business like theirs there was always going to be some collateral damage, something Tony had taken some time to come to grips with as well. 

For the greater good and all.

He got back to his home in Malibu with Loki and they both went to bed, Loki and Tony took full advantage of the privacy to test out Tony's new strength. It was invigorating having Loki actually have to struggle against him to free his arms instead of giving Tony the illusion of strength. Loki was still stronger they found but much less so than before.

It wasn't until the next morning when Tony had had time to relax and process that they spoke at all of what exactly had happened, Tony wanted to know how he'd come to be in the lab instead of Maya and so Loki told him over pancakes.

“I just didn't trust the man but Maya always seemed genuine. I found her alone one day while she was in town shopping and I asked her some questions. She's a good actress that girl but I could see she was having trouble dealing with everything she was doing. I offered her another plan and she liked my plan better than Killian's. She told me about the modified Extremis, told me that she had another she was working on that was better than Killian's. We discussed how best to go about giving you the better version and getting Killian out of the picture. We had planned on making it seem that you were under his thrall for long enough to figure out who the spy is in Stark Industries but that fell by the wayside when Killian discovered our plot.”

“Yeah... he mentioned a spy. Any idea who?”

“I have a few suspicions...”

“Oh?”

“I'm not telling you yet,” Loki said and as Tony began to protest he shook his head, “No, you need to act normally. You are a shitty liar Tony, good _actor_ but when you distrust someone it shows and I won't put it in your mind in case I am wrong. This is different.”

Tony huffed.

“Huff all you wish, I won't tell you.”

Loki left after breakfast, he was traveling to Latveria to speak with Doom and Maya. It gave Tony time to think, time to ponder what exactly was going on. There were a lot of people in Stark Industries but none he could say had a vendetta against him for any reason, but then, he didn't know Killian had a vendetta against him until Killian was gloating. It just didn't make sense.

His phone rang and he picked it up, “Hello?”

“Tony, thank god you're alright. What the hell happened at AIM?” Obie sounded concerned, “The whole place went up.”

“Loki blew it up. Killian was trying to take my brain over with a new version of Extremis but Loki was onto him. He did keep telling me not to trust Killian. Turns out he was right.”

“What happened?”

Tony told Obie exactly what had gone on at AIM and then he added, “And he mentioned something about a spy. Loki said he has an idea of who but he wouldn't tell me.”

Obie went very quiet on the other end of the phone.

“Obie? What is it? You always go quiet when there's something going on. Come on, spill.”

“Well...” Obie started reluctantly, “I wasn't going to mention anything but... Pepper has been acting awfully funny lately. She's been cagey... you know she's got a second phone? I saw here with it today, looks like something out of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Tony scoffed, “Come on Obie, Pepper? Really?”

“Yes really kid. She's close to you, closer than anyone except for me and Rhodey and Rhodey's the all American hero and I'm, well I'm almost family. I've done my best by you over the years since your parents died... and Pepper... she's awfully close to you. You actually respect her over just sleeping with her and tossing her aside like the rest of the women in your life.”

“Hey, I never toss anyone aside. I'm always very upfront about the 'I'm never going to call you' thing. They know what they're getting into.”

“I'm just saying, she's the only person in your life that knows your schedule as well as I do. Keep an eye out kid... look, I gotta go, I have a meeting in a few minutes I just wanted to make sure you're okay.”

“I'm fine Obie. Tired, strong as hell, but fine.”

“Good... I'll see you in a couple of days.”

“Yeah.”

The call ended and Tony frowned. Pepper? Really? He found that really hard to believe.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The Mandarin did well to cover their asses with the AIM incident and Killian's death was cited as a tragedy. Tony spoke a bit about Killian, saying he was sorry he had been killed and he'd make sure whoever was responsible would pay for it. Iron Man was on the case as far as the public were concerned.

Loki remained tight lipped about his suspicions and as Tony got back to the day to day running of Stark Industries, he noticed Pepper was acting very shifty. He noticed that she had two phones as Obie said she did and she wouldn't meet him in the eye when he talked to her.

“Pep, is everything okay?” he asked her as he sighed off some paperwork.

“What? Oh yes, everything's fine... just... I'm really busy, that's all.”

“Hm...” Tony said, “you sure?”

“I'm sure.”

He tried to not think anything more on it as she walked away looking distracted and as he thought about it whenever he talked to her she looked more and more distracted. He hoped Obie was wrong, he loved Pepper, she was just as important to him as Obie, Rhodey or Loki.

That thought made him start, when had Loki become so important in his world view?

He pushed the thought aside and got back to work.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The next day as Tony got up out of bed Jarvis informed him that Obie and Loki were there to see him. His blood ran cold at that, Obie never came to see him first thing in the morning, it was always Pepper and what was Loki doing with him?

He walked downstairs, both men were looking somber and tired. “Sit down Tony,” Obie said and Tony walked over to the couch to sit down. He frowned, looking between them both when Loki silently put two phones in front of them, they both were covered in blood. His blood ran cold.

They were Pepper's phones.

“She's been sending information to S.H.I.E.L.D,” Loki said quietly, “She found out about our plans, about what you've been up to. It was S.H.I.E.L.D that brought Killian in on the plot to have you do what they wanted you to do. I'm sorry Tony...” Loki said and Tony shook his head, picking up the phones looking at them.

The first phone was the Stark Phone he gave her, nothing untoward on it but the second phone was definitely SHIELD tech. He started looking through it. She'd been sending texts back and forward with Agent Coulson. Nothing yet incriminating but indicating she had information and had been planning to meet Coulson that evening to give him the 'data pack'.

“Where is she?” Tony demanded and Obie shook his head.

“Loki killed her,”

“What!? No!”

“It was the only way to keep her silent Tony, the only way! She would have told Coulson all our secrets.”

“But – _no_ you should have come to me first! This is wrong!”

“You knew as well as we did that there would be collateral damage with this plan! You knew as well as we did that it was likely that good people would die along the way it is the nature of taking over the world but we do it with as little pain as possible. Pepper got in the way. She had to be dealt with.”

Tony couldn't breathe, Pepper was gone, his beautiful perfect Pepper was gone and he'd never told her how much he cared for her. Never told her that without her he'd be a mess, never told her that without her the company would be a mess because there would be no one to help him. No one to keep him on the straight and narrow or bring his ass back to it whenever he faltered.

“Get out.” He told Loki and Obie.

“Tony-”

“Out! Both of you! There could have been another way you had no right to do this without asking me first! She – we could have talked to her, did you even try!? Fuck Obie – she was just _perfect_ and you've gone and killed the one bright spark in this whole mess.”

Obie and Loki shared a look before Obie left and Loki sat beside Tony. Tony got up and left to go downstairs to his lab and he locked the door keeping Loki out raising the force field he knew kept the God at bay.

The only thing he could do right now was tinker and try to make sense of this whole mess.


	4. Confrontations and Oaths

Anger didn't cover it, he was stricken with grief and so he'd gone to his garage to try and forget what he'd just been told. Tried to forget that he knew there would be collateral damage, tried to put aside that he never imagined the collateral damage would be anyone he cared about.

And he did love Pepper, _loved_ her he mentally amended staring now at his glass of scotch. It hurt like a bitch the wound Loki and Obie had caused him but, he couldn't really be properly angry, not when he'd finally read through the texts Pepper had been sending Coulson.

“ _I think there's something bigger going on, I'll get the worm into Tony's personal computer tonight. I'll let you know what I find._ ”

If only he could have talked to her, they could have worked something out, convinced her that they were doing the right thing in the grand scheme of things. Explained that a certain amount of collateral damage was necessary but it would work out in the end. 

He never thought about the pain this 'collateral damage' was causing others because it had never hit him. He never expected it to hit him, he was careful with those he cared about.

He avoided Loki, remained in his work room to tinker and loose himself in the predictable connections of machine parts. These things couldn't hurt him, these things were safe and he couldn't hurt himself or anyone he loved with tinkering in his workroom.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Things were quiet for a few days, Tony slept some, at least he thought he was sleeping, he was loosing time here and there and he could only assume it was because of sleep or scotch or perhaps both?

“Sir,” came Jarvis' voice over the intercom, “there is a situation at Stark Industries I think you should be made aware of?”

“Oh?” Tony asked, rubbing his face with both hands.

The screen beside him sprung to life.

It was Obediah's office and there were three people fighting.

Loki was in his armor as Obie fought him wearing something that looked like an Ironman suit and there was a tall blond woman, clad all in green fighting with him too. Loki quickly disappeared from the screen and reappeared beside Tony, a knife in his side.

“That double crossing bastard,” Loki fumed, “Jarvis, get a line to Latveria!” he barked at the AI.

“Right away sir.”

Tony's eyes moved back to the screen where Obie and the woman were conversing. The blond moved to the computer, said something and Tony could see that 'I'm pissed off and want to punch someone' look pass Obie's eyes.

“Pepper,” Loki said and Pepper's voice answered him, Tony's heart stopped.

“We got it, we did it,” she said, “The whole system is wiped, Doom and Maya have everything on their server of worth encrypted and I have the key. 

“ _Pepper_...” Tony said and Pepper answered.

“Tony, I'm sorry but Loki needed to get into Obie's office to plant a virus. Obie needed to trust him for that, it's convoluted but -”

“Why didn't he just teleport into the fucking office!?” Tony asked.

“Because he had a magical shield protecting it and I needed to know who. That dirty thieving harlot Amora Korisdottir will pay for this. She wishes to curry favor with my brother for exposing our plans,” Loki said and he had a somewhat murderous look in his eye. 

“What did she steal?” Tony asked curiously.

“A seed, but that is no matter we haven't the time to discuss this, we need to go.”

“Go where?” Tony asked but Loki didn't care to answer right now.

“Suit up Tony, we're going out.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Tony didn't usually let Loki boss him around. After all, this all began because he was the one that wanted to take over the world and stop people doing stupid shit. He usually put up more of a fight than this but Loki had looked utterly murderous and Tony wanted to know what Obie had done exactly and so Pepper filled him in as they flew towards a warehouse on the outskirts of Malibu.

“He's been working with Hammer Tech, selling your tech to him, Hammer has a suit but it's not as good as yours according to Loki. Tony, Obie was responsible for getting you kidnapped in Afghanistan. He wanted you dead but they caught you instead. Loki's pretty sure he was responsible for your parents deaths but there;s nothing concrete about it.”

Tony thought about it, Obie had always said if it wasn't for him Stark Industries would never have gotten off the ground. Howard Stark would have fallen flat if not for Obie's business sense. His father was a genius but he wasn't much for business.

“And what do you think about the world taking over thing?” Tony asked her.

“I think you're nuts, you can barely keep a company running without complaining about the paperwork, do you know how much trouble the _world_ will be?”

Tony grinned, “Well I got you to help me with that Pep haven't I?”

“Yeah and I must be mad to even consider it...”

“You know you love me.”

“I do,” Pepper said, “Now go get him and put this to bed. Make sure you, Loki, Clint and Natasha all come back in one piece.”

“Sure we will,” Tony said and he grinned, “I'm Tony Stark, I'm Ironman.”

Loki was ahead at the warehouse with Clint and Natasha already. His teleporting was handy but Tony prefered to fly. He always imagined that Loki would leave part of him behind just for shits and giggles and he wasn't sure how much he trusted his lover to transport himself and the Ironman suit 'between the branches of the world tree'.

“We're outside the building. Hawk and Widow are entering the building from above to do recon. I have an eye on both of them and a tether, I can pull them out should they be discovered and require rescuing. Target is with Hammer, they have more than one suit it looks like... maybe automated. And might I say that the suits aren't as refined as yours Tony, they're downright ugly. I mean, why take over the world if everything you create is that fucking ugly?”

Tony laughed, was almost there and he heard shots fired over the com.

“We've been spotted,” Clint said, “I swear we were silent, bastard must have some traps but 'Tasha didn't see anything.”

“Magical detection,” Loki said, his voice a little happier, “that means Amora is here. Do you need pulled out?”

“No, we're fine, we're doing well to distract them as they try and boot up their system. Natasha's hacked their computers because, come on, it's Hammer Tech, a four year old could do it.”

Tony arrived just a few moments later, bursting down the door with his repulsors. As the doors caved in, something flew out at him and sent him flying through the air crashing into a nearby car.

“Hey kid, boy am I glad to see you here. I thought I was going to have to come find you to kill you but you've saved me the trouble and brought yourself here. I'll make sure it's quick,” Obie told him as he walked out in his own version of the Iron Man suit.

Loki was right, it was fucking ugly. It was big, bulky, clumsy and _clearly_ built by someone who was trying to compensate for something. He always knew Hammer lacked any kind of imagination or _finesse_.

As Tony looked at it carefully as Obie walked towards him the only thing on it that was at all interesting was the runes marked all along the seams. “Loki, there are weird Norse looking runes carved all over that thing.”

As he said that, before Loki could respond he heard Natasha curse over the com line and about sixty robots flew out of the warehouse straight at him. Tony turned and flew off as fast as he could cursing the bots. They looked suspiciously like the prototypes that Tony had been bulding based off Doom's tech.

“Are those _doombots_!?” Loki asked over the com.

“No,” Tony said defensively as he shot two down, “they're _Stark Sentinels_.”

Loki's laughter rang over the com as Obie tried to blast Tony out of the sky. His laughter was cut short as something exploded in the back of the facility and another twenty or so bots flew out.

There were no more witty words exchanged for the next twenty minutes. As they fought, Tony was ecstatic to see SHIELD show up with a quin jet with Coulson in tow.

Loki disappeared into the compound and the resulting explosion that came as he entered and the green smoke billowing from the warehouse didn't fill Tony with confidence. He flew as quickly as he could towards the warehouse but Obie grabbed him and tackled him, both of them landing on the roof. The roof was crumbling around them.

Obie blasted him again and again, Tony had to admit it's firepower was greater but he still preferred his own suit, it was more elegant and meneuverable but it did get him thinking that maybe he could have different suits for different situations. 

He lay on the ground on his back as Obie whacked him particularly hard sending his helmet flying off towards the edge of the building and off.

“Nice try kid... you know, when I tried to have you killed I was worried I was killing the Golden Goose. I'm glad you survived so I can kill you now.”

Obie raised his arm, ready to pound Tony's skull in when he cried out.

All the runes on Obie's suit were on fire and the suit was beginning to melt away from him. Loki appeared on the roof as Obie was exposed and he threw a single, elegant, already bloody dagger at Obie sending it straight into his chest.

“Amora is dead, your armor is tied to her life force. Die knowing your life was a waste Obediah,” Loki said and he kneeled down beside Tony, “no one touches what is mine.”

Obie fell off the side of the building, Loki kissed Tony and Tony smiled. Everything felt fuzzy, everything felt concussed he realised and he closed his eyes, leaning his head back in Loki's lap. He could relax, Loki would protect him.

He felt the world slip away and with it all his troubles.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In retrospect he knew it wouldn't be so easy. It took him weeks to get over the betrayal of his fathers best friend. They found evidence that he was probably involved in his parents deaths. They found all the evidence of his underhanded dealing with terrorists and SHIELD considered Tony a hero once more for his deeds.

Pepper came back from Latveria with Maya and Doom. Tony showed Doom around, invited him officially into 'Project Eden'. Maya took over AIM, what was left of it, Pepper became CEO of Stark Industries freeing up Tony to work full time on his projects and being a walking talking cliché.

At least, he wasn't too bad, he knew he wasn't as bad as some of the 'dictators' (which he thought was a dirty word). He had his moral compass now in the form of Pepper so he couldn't be too much of a 'super villain' though he knew if Fury found out he'd strongly disagree.

He was standing on the balcony of his New York penthouse as Loki stood outside with the tree sapling he'd been babying since they got back from fighting in Malibu and Tony had desired a change of scene. Loki had been very intent about this little tree and only now as Tony noticed the tree's leaves were reddish brown did he think there may be anything odd about the tree.

“So what kind of tree is it?” He asked.

“It is an apple tree,” Loki said with a smile.

An apple tree... Tony's eyes widened, “An apple tree? As in an Asgardian Golden Apple Tree?”

Loki nodded, “Indeed.”

“Isn't that... what if Thor finds it?”

Loki motioned to the runes he'd carved around it on the ground, “When any but those that know it's true nature look upon it they will see nothing but a plain old apple tree.”

“Is that so you don't need to go back and forward from Asgard?”

Loki gave him a withering look, “No, you dense fool, it is so you might live much longer than even Extremis will allow.”

That stopped any smart ass retort Tony may have had. 

“I do not _need_ you Tony but by the nine I want you. I want you to have the time to accomplish what you wish to, I want you to have me by your side as we carve this gloriously chaotic world into something magnificent. I want to ensure that when anyone ever threatens our planet or the nine realms that Earth can stand together and hold back whatever may threaten it... also you need Pepper to organise you so I was going to give her apples too.”

Tony was truly struck speechless, “You... want me around that long?”

Loki's smile grew wry, “For now... I may defenestrate you one day if you irk me enough but for now, yes I want you around.” Tony took Loki's hand and grinned.

“That's almost romantic,” Tony said.

Loki looked at him, “Do you wish me to defenestrate you right now?”

“No, hey don't be a dick... let's just... go downstairs and I'll bend you over and show you how much I appreciate the sentiment?” 

Loki laughed at that, “You answer everything with sex.”

“Not everything... but with you around I just might. You know I haven't slept with anyone but you since we first fucked right?”

“Oh I know. If I thought you hadn't been mine and mine alone I'd have killed you.”

Tony blinked, “Possessive bastard.”

“You're just as bad as I am.”

They stood together in companionable silence as Loki just smiled, looking out over the city he had almost burned to the ground. As Tony and Loki remained quiet Loki's phone buzzed.

His eyes looked down at the screen and he grinned and showed it to Tony.

_'Widow: Fury is ours.'_

The world was as good as theirs.

\- The End.


End file.
